Forever and Always
by Kisses on the Bottom
Summary: A collection of ways that Mal Fallon asks Natara Williams to marry him.


**AN:** I haven't updated anything in forever and a half, I know. I thought I'd surprise everyone by adding the start of this new five-shot, though. I've been really busy throughout the holidays and two nights ago I was at a sleepover. We hardly got any sleep, though, so I dunno if you would really classify it as a sleepover. The night after that, I got really excited for New Year's Eve so I didn't go to bed until really late. And tonight it's New Years, and you'd better believe I just stayed up 'til midnight. So, point is, I'm exhausted. And if this story sucks, you'll know why. Enjoy it! If you can.

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><p>Her glimmering pistol was raised at the killer's pale, sweaty forehead from a few feet away. He was surrounded by two of the best detectives and special agents in the San Francisco Police Department. So why did he choose to run? Maybe it was just a killer's instinct. They all think they have another chance to get away, even though it's almost impossible.<p>

But that didn't matter. What mattered was that Neil Garrett had turned around and bolted down the alleyway, frantically searching for any door or passage that could hide him from Detective Mal Fallon and Special Agent Natara Williams.

The two of them were experts at tracking down suspects and bringing them to justice. They were partners and best friends, but most of all, they were in a romantic relationship. A long one, in fact. They'd been dating for a year and a half as of January. So they understood each other's thoughts, feelings, emotions, and actions almost perfectly, considering they bonded and worked together so well.

"Mal!" Natara called out in a loud whisper, firing a shot that barely missed Neil's head. "I'm out of bullets." She didn't want Neil to hear her.

Mal frowned. "Get behind me. I don't want you getting hurt because you don't have a functioning pistol."

Truth is, he didn't want her getting hurt because he wanted to be with her forever and always. He wanted her to make him smile, laugh, and enjoy life. He wanted her soft lips to caress his, just like they did every day. In fact, Mal wanted to ask Natara to marry him. He'd been planning his proposal for awhile now, and even purchased a beautiful ring bathed in diamonds a few days ago. It had taken him months and months to be able to afford it, but she deserved every single cent that it cost him for the ring. She was the one.

Natara did as she was told and stayed on his heels as they made their way to the end of the alleyway, looking on both sides of it as if to try to find any sign of which Neil could have gone off to.

"Damn…" Mal moaned underneath his rapid breath, dodging trash bins and stray objects. "Of all the suspects we could chase, we get caught with a former Olympic runner." Rumor had it that Neil Garrett had actually won some sort of a metal in the Winter Olympics.

Natara quizzically squinted her eyes, trying to spot the getaway suspect through streets filled with people trying to do last minute Christmas shopping. Mal looked over at her, unable to stop a small grin when he noticed that she was chewing her lip as she always did when she was deep in thought. Natara thought she looked stupid when she did that. To Mal, she looked beautiful…as always.

"He went to the left," she called, snapping him out of his thoughts. "I know because his bicycle was over there and he probably wants to use it to get away."

"Sure," Mal frowned in realization that he had stopped teething her lip. "Let's nail this jerk," he fell back into detective mode, carefully handling his pistol as he and Natara bolted to the left.

They passed several bystanders and curious Christmas shoppers on the sidewalk, deftly weaving their way through crowds on the street until they came to Marin Avenue.

"Ah hell," Mal grumbled and looked over at Natara. "Marin doesn't have sidewalks and the road's full of potholes. Be careful, Nat."

Natara nodded and wiped a drop of sweat off her forehead. She didn't comprehend what Mal said; the only thing she could hear was the wind stinging her ears as she ran. "O-okay..." she panted.

Mal squinted his eyes, trying to find any sign of Neil Garrett. He couldn't spot one, though. So he looked over at Natara instead.

She was keeping a quick pace, he noticed; she had long, graceful legs that guided her down the porous street. Her dark, chocolate-colored hair flowed freely in the wind as if she were in a masterpiece. Flawless, Mal thought. She's absolutely flawless. Another grin teased at his lips.

"What are you smiling about?" Natara asked between rapid gasps of air, taking her eyes off of the road for a moment to scan her boyfriend's facial expression. That wasn't a good choice, however. Unaware of what was happening, she painfully stepped inside of a small pothole, twisting her ankle in the impact.

Mal snapped out of his thoughts once more and instinctively reached his arm out just as she was about to fall onto the hard road. "Natara!" he called out as she winced in pain.

"I'm okay..." she clenched her teeth. "Dammit! Where the hell is Neil?"

Mal ran his fingers through Natara's slightly messy hair. He swallowed hard as she began to quicken her pace again, even though it was evident that her ankle was broken. "Natara..." he choked out."Stay here. I'm going after Neil."

She opened her mouth to say something, but nearly fell in pain as a menacing voice behind them mockingly spoke.

"You don't have to run after me. I'm right behind you. Never underestimate the sprinting power of a world-famous Olympic runner."

Mal turned around in a flash and began to squeeze the trigger when he saw Neil Garrett behind him. He was too slow, though. Garrett fired a surprising shot from the hidden pistol he'd taken out of his jacket. The bullet found it's way into Mal's hip, spraying hot blood onto the street.

"Oh my God!" Natara screamed and took a rapid step toward Garrett, bearing the unexplainable pain in her leg as she felt more bones snapping. "Nhhhhh..." she gritted her teeth.

Neil Garrett smiled and looked into Natara's watery eyes. "You're with the FBI, aren't you?" he sneered.

The look on her face told him everything.

He grinned again. "Thought so. My brother was with the FBI, too. Something about him resembles you." Neil aimed his pistol at Natara. "And do you know what? He took the love of my life away from me. Laurynn and I were going to live life together, happy as it gets. Then she went and met my brother. She fell head over heels for him and never spoke to me again. So I killed him." Neil looked over at Mal, who was bleeding more and more by the second. "It felt good, you know. Maybe Laurynn will come after me now, full of love. And if she doesn't, I'll kill her."

Natara fell over Mal's body. Her stomach began to ache as she noticed the amount of blood on the ground. She looked up at Neil with a quizzical glance. "How did you end up getting behind us?"

Neil shrugged. "Well, I _was_ going to escape on my bike, but I figured killing you both would be better. That'd get rid of you."

A sudden thought struck Natara's mind. She tried to fight back a triumphant grin as she reached for Mal's gun, which was lying by his bleeding hip. She quickly brushed her lips against his pale cheek and whispered: "I'll get this son of a bitch, Mal. Don't worry. I already called for backup too. Stay with me..."

"Okay...okay..." Mal clenched his teeth, trying not to yell out in pain. "Just _kill_ him…"

Neil took a step closer to Natara. "So, you worthless Fed, any last words? I'd love to hear them. Makes me enjoy killing you even more."

"Oh yeah," Natara retorted as she readied the pistol behind Mal's body, hiding it from Garrett's view. "I have something to say."

"Yeah?" Neil menacingly brushed his finger against the trigger. "Out with it."

"Your _thing _for Laurynn isn't true love," Natara jeered, holding the loaded gun carefully.

It took every muscle in Neil's body to restrain from shooting her. He swallowed his fury and growled: "Why the hell do you think not?"

Natara shrugged. "True love doesn't kill."

Before Neil could react, she raised her pistol and fired at his head. He fell down hard on the road, his forehead exploding with blood. His limbs gave way and collapsed; every body part and bone above his neck turning into a bloody mess.

But Natara didn't witness the gory scene after the bullet went through Neil's forehead. She painfully leaned over Mal's limp body. "Mal…" her voice collapsed into choked tears. "Stay with me, please…"

The blood couldn't stop pouring out of his punctured hip. Natara quickly threw off her jacket and pressed it upon the wound in attempt to slow down the bleeding. She ignored the unbearable pain in her leg; it seemed so mild and unimportant compared to the bullet that had struck her significant other.

"Trying…so hard…" It took every nerve and muscle that Mal had inside of his body not to faint or scream out helplessly. Natara stroked his cold cheek gently, not even trying to fight back the tears that were spilling on her face. She pulled out her cell phone. It had been partially crushed from the way she had fallen earlier, but she used the little bit of strength that she had left to dial 911.

Mal felt his eyelids beginning to close. They felt heavier than a one-hundred pound weight, but he managed to keep them open at the sight of Natara. She looked so beautiful, even though her hair was blowing this way and that and her face was streaked with tears. She was flawless even though her clothes were torn and her hands were covered in blood.

_I can't believe this, _Mal thought. _I'm dying right now, I don't have many more minutes left, and all I can focus on is how beautiful Natara is. _

It was true, however. Mal's thoughts drifted to the engagement ring sitting in his pocket. It might have still been there. He hoped it hadn't fallen out. But he felt his breath shortening and more blood flowing freely out of the wound. There wasn't much time left.

Ring or not, he had to do it.

"Natara…" Mal called out, forcing himself to keep his eyes open as she grabbed onto his hand after placing a 911 call. He combated the deep pain in his hip and gazed into her eyes.

"Mal, what is it?" Tears slid down her cheeks as she applied pressure to his seeping wound, as they'd taught her in police training.

He had to do it. Now. He didn't have much time left.

"Natara…" Mal repeated her beautiful, unique name. "If everything goes wrong…if I never get the chance to ask you…" He gasped for a mouthful of air and found relief when it hit his lungs. "If I never see you again…I just have to know…"

Natara held onto him, trying to stop the tears that kept flowing. "Yeah?"

"Will you marry me?"

The world slowed to a crawl. Mal wished he could have seen the expression on her face at the moment. He wanted to hear her response. He would have given anything to have a few more minutes with her on that night to witness her reaction after he'd asked her.

But he didn't have that chance.

He passed out.

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><p>The smell of rubbing alcohol, clean uniforms, and sterile supplies was the reason that Mal opened his eyes that rainy Sunday morning. He always hated that scent, and the sight of white walls and raised cots didn't make him feel any better. Until he realized that Natara was sitting on the other side of the room.<p>

Her hair was swept back into a ponytail that tickled her rosy cheeks as she napped in an old wheelchair that was placed next to Mal's bed. Her shirt and jeans had dried blood stains on them, but the comforting way that she slept seemed to tell everyone that she didn't care that they were blatantly noticeable. Mal looked down at her left ankle and noticed a bulky cast nestling it. He felt a lump form in his throat when he saw it. She must have been in a lot of pain as she cared for him when he had been shot, he realized.

So Mal figured he'd cheer her up.

"_Natara,"_ he whispered in attempt to soothingly awaken her. No luck. She kept napping snugly in her wheelchair, her mouth slightly ajar. Mal loved it when she slept like that; to him, it was one of the cutest things she ever did. But Natara hated it. She said it made her look stupid and childish.

"_So what?" _Mal always told her. "_You're still beautiful."_

Natara would always disagree. "_No, I'm not. You're only saying that because you're my boyfriend."_

But that wasn't true. Mal would say it even if he didn't even know her. At least he thought he would.

"Natara…" he tried again, this time raising his voice.

She still didn't wake, but Mal knew exactly what to do.

"Hey, Natara! Look at this awesome new thousand-page book I got you!" he tried holding back a laugh as Natara's eyelids fluttered open. When she noticed Mal in front of her, conscious and alert, she nearly fell out of her wheelchair.

"Mal!" she gasped. "You…you're up!"

"Whoa there," Mal couldn't resist a grin. "Calm down, sweetheart."

But Natara couldn't. She let a few tears of joy escape from her eyes as she wheeled herself closer to his cot. "I…I…they said if you didn't wake up in a few days, it would mean that you died…"

Mal got closer to her and let his nose nuzzle hers. He closed his eyes for a moment and felt her warm breath tickle his cheek. "Well, I'm up, aren't I?"

Natara didn't answer, but kissed him tenderly for several long moments. To Mal, it felt better than medicine to have those lips caressing his after the pain he'd been through, and all of his memories melted away at her touch.

"Yeah," she pulled away and whispered into his ear. "You _are _up. This is the best Christmas I've ever had."

Mal couldn't believe what he was hearing. _"It's Christmas?"_ he wondered aloud and gazed into Natara's convincing eyes.

"Yep," she answered. "Christmas Day. You still haven't opened your present from me yet; it's at your apartment."

Mal kissed her again quickly. "I'll open it later. The best present for me right now is waking up and spending time with you."

Natara couldn't fight back a blush. "Well, I _do _have a present for you right now, too."

"Really?" Mal wondered what it could be. He didn't see any boxes around the room, just two asleep patients sharing his room.

"Yeah," Natara excitedly replied and wheeled over to a small table nearby. She picked up a small, red, and velvet box from the surface and fingered it quickly before returning to her boyfriend's side with a fresh small formed on her lips.

Mal couldn't believe it.

The ring.

Before he could say anything, Natara showed him a large grin. "The nurse found this in your pocket, Mal, and she put it here when I told her that it was going to be for me. I knew that even though you were dying on that road, you still meant what you said about marriage."

Mal could feel his heart thumping in his throat. What if she said no? What if she didn't love him like he loved her? What if she didn't feel like marriage was right for them? After all, they _were_ partners at work. What if things didn't work out? What if…

"So, Mal?" Natara snapped him out of his thoughts.

"Hmmm?"

She took the dazzling ring out of the box, catching sight of it for the first time. The band, bathed with diamonds and jewels, sparkled in the light of the hospital room, making the ring seem more beautiful and elegant than it really was. Natara handed the box to Mal and gave him a warm, welcoming smile that told him exactly what she was about to say.

"Yeah, I'll marry you."

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><p><strong>AN:<strong> Awwwwww. Happy New Years, everyone! (I live in the USA, so it's just about time for me to go downstairs and watch fireworks to celebrate.) Anyway, I really hope you like this 'cause I'm going to continue it. I've already planned all of the chapters and scenes out. Like, seriously. Oh, and if I've got any careless typos, would you let me know? I'm so careless at this time of year.


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